WESTERN AUSTRALIAN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The Western Australian Biomedical Research Institute (WABRI) is a university-based research Institute at Curtin University of Technology in association with the Chemistry Centre WA, located in the State’s capital city of Perth.

The Institute undertakes leading-edge research into the molecular basis of disease control, targeting diseases such as cancer, diabetes and malaria.

WABRI brings together the expertise of more than 70 scientists, many with well-established international reputations in the fields of biomedical sciences and pharmacology.

THE WABRI VISION

To be recognised nationally and internationally as a world class research institute and the pre-eminent organisation for industry focussed biomedical research and solutions in Western Australia.

THE WABRI MISSION

To carry out leading edge research in biomedical science and provide innovative solutions to the health care, medical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries.

PRIORITY COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AREAS

The following key areas have been identified as priority research areas for the WABRI based on existing expertise and current research programs:

1. Molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases including bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections.  (Professors Grubb, Thompson and Associate Professor Warmington)

This primarily relates to the development of sensitive diagnostics based on molecular biological techniques for the clinical and environmental detection of human and animal pathogens including Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia duodenalis, Cyclospora, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida.  These tools can also be used in a variety of settings (e.g. hospital and public health) for "fingerprinting" pathogens and thus determining sources of infection in outbreak situations.  Similar technologies will be used for the development of tools to detect drug resistance.
 
2. Anti-infective drugs and molecular characterisation of drug targets.  (Associate Professors Helmerhorst and Reynoldson)

This thrust relies on the characterisation of drug receptors at the molecular level and the design of molecules to fit these receptors.  Such technology is applicable across the whole spectrum of infectious agents and drugs for other uses.
 
3. Development of novel prophylactics.  (Professors Garlepp and Sanderson; Associate Professor Helmerhorst)

This area relies on similar technology in the development of non-infectious applications such as drugs for the treatment of diabetes and anti-cancer chemotherapeutics.
 
4.  Bioinformatics.  (Associate Professors Wetherall and Helmerhorst)

A strong bioinformatics collaborative group will facilitate research since vast amounts of DNA sequence data is generated.  This requires sophisticated analytical tools and has seen the recent development of bioinformatics as a new discipline.  The expertise resides within both nodes and bringing these groups together will develop a centre for bioinformatics that will be a major resource for Western Australia’s biomedical community.

For more information visit the WABRI web site.